77-2701.18. Lease or rental, defined.

(1) Lease or rental means any transfer of possession or control of tangible personal property for a fixed or indeterminate term for consideration. A lease or rental may include future options to purchase or extend.

(2) Lease or rental does not include:

(a) A transfer of possession or control of property under a security agreement or deferred payment plan that requires the transfer of title upon completion of the required payments;

(b) A transfer of possession or control of property under an agreement that requires the transfer of title upon completion of required payments and payment of an option price does not exceed the greater of one hundred dollars or one percent of the total required payments; or

(c) Providing tangible personal property along with an operator for a fixed or indeterminate period of time. A condition of this exclusion is that the operator is necessary for the equipment to perform as designed. For purposes of this subsection, an operator must do more than maintain, inspect, or set up the tangible personal property.

(3) Lease includes agreements covering motor vehicles and trailers where the amount of consideration may be increased or decreased by reference to the amount realized upon sale or disposition of the property as defined for federal income tax purposes.

(4) This definition shall be used for sales and use tax purposes regardless if a transaction is characterized as a lease or rental under generally accepted accounting principles, the Internal Revenue Code, the Uniform Commercial Code, or other provisions of federal, state, or local law.

(5) This definition shall be applied only prospectively from January 1, 2004, and shall have no retroactive impact on existing leases or rentals.

Source:Laws 2003, LB 282, ยง 22.